Glenn said:
I had heard about the quantum physics ideas of time, but I never actually looked into them in any sort of detail. Where did you gain your understanding of them? Did you read them in a book, or were you exposed to them in a class, or Discovery Channel?
I'd be curious to know more about the topic, because it seems interesting.
I agree. It's a fascinating subject. I've studied quantum physics through many books, documentaries, teachers, etc. over the years, but not really in a classroom setting. One teacher I was talking with about four years ago said that in quantum physics, time is considered to be sort of circular, and that's why you need to see things in place right now, instead of something that you are moving towards in life or as something that's moving towards you. It was an interesting concept, I thought. Many years ago back in the mid-'70s a famous hypnotist used to give people the example of telling someone who is under hypnosis that they are going to drop the pencil they are holding, and no matter what, they won't drop the pencil, because their subconscious minds can't tell time so they are always thinking of some unspecified future date. Yet when those very same subjects were told, "Drop the pencil!" they dropped the pencil every single time!! It's a fascinating experiment. I had always heard that time wasn't linear--that there is no past and future--and that everything is actually happening right now, but that teacher's explanation four years ago really brought that point home for me, especially in terms of perceiving and creating things in life, because it tied in perfectly with that hypnosis experiment as well.
And then, of course, in Buddhism it is believed that there are no dualities, so there really isn't a past and future, unless you choose to perceive it that way. This was posted at E-Sangha, a Buddhist online forum, not too long ago, and I thought it was very interesting, as it seems to be right on point:
For the early Buddhists, karma was non-linear. Other Indian schools believed that karma operated in a straight line, with actions from the past influencing the present, and present actions influencing the future. As a result, they saw little room for free will. Buddhists, however, saw that karma acts in feedback loops, with the present moment being shaped both by past and by present actions; present actions shape not only the future but also the present.
Also, here is the link to an article I posted in the "Religion" section a while back called "Time Is the Enemy," which is also pretty interesting:
http://www.eupedia.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5501